How much taxpayer money is Cuyahoga County willing to spend to keep the Cleveland Browns playing on the lakefront?
If Executive Chris Ronayne has a number, he isn’t saying it publicly.
In an interview this week, Ronayne said the county could “supplement” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s $461 million proposal to renovate the downtown stadium and keep the NFL franchise from moving to Brook Park.
The Democratic county executive, who has been on the job for two years, talked with Signal Cleveland this week about the big challenges county government faces in 2025. Among them: paying for Cleveland’s three major stadiums, building a new jail and getting ready for the incoming Trump administration.
A ‘sweet spot’ for keeping the Browns on the lake
In setting a dollar amount for a lakefront Browns deal, Ronayne cautioned that he has to balance many needs in a city with high poverty and two other expensive professional stadiums.
“What will it take? I think it’s going to be the proverbial sweet spot – what’s right, what’s fair, what’s possible, and what doesn’t jeopardize current county treasury or scuttle other plans,” Ronayne said. “And when all’s said and done, the Guardians and Cavs, last I looked, were doing pretty well in their respective divisions and require our attention as well.”
Late last year, the city and county coughed up $40 million to pay for repairs at the ballpark and basketball arena. The 3-and-14 Browns, however, are asking for the most money: $1.2 billion in public investment for a roofed stadium in the suburbs.
Ronayne said he sees the Brook Park plan as “not feasible” and a “bridge too far financially.” He met on Monday at county headquarters with team owner Jimmy Haslam and other Browns brass, he said.
The county executive prefers renovating the current stadium – which the Browns have said could cost the public $500 million to $600 million. That would keep the team’s home field connected to the rest of downtown’s amenities, he argued.
“It is about connectivity down to the Rock Hall, the science center,” he said. “It’s more than just the stadium. I’ve always said this is – why not be a part of something bigger than you?”
The next move belongs to Gov. Mike DeWine and state lawmakers, who will craft a state budget that could include money for a Brook Park stadium.
Is an increase coming to the sin tax?
Cuyahoga County’s sin tax on alcohol and cigarettes – which voters renewed in 2014 to pay for repairs at the three stadiums – is increasingly tapped out. That’s why Gateway Economic Development Corporation, the nonprofit that owns and maintains the ballpark and arena, asked the city and county to pitch in last year to the tune of $40 million.
Ronayne indicated that he’s open to putting a sin tax increase before the voters. The way he put it, he’s “open to a conversation with the voters” about raising the tax. He stressed that the decision on an increase rests with the electorate.
“Sports and beer do have a relationship, historic relationship,” he said. “So exploring that, how solid that relationship is, is probably something that’s going to happen.”
Would an increase go to the ballot this year? Ronayne said he did not know. He suggested that sin tax’s future also depends on whether the Browns remain on the lakefront. The timing of a vote is not Ronayne’s decision alone. Placing the sin tax on the ballot requires a vote of Cuyahoga County Council.
Last year’s $40 million request upset some members of Cleveland City Council, who said that Gateway wasn’t a fierce enough watchdog of rising stadium costs.
Ronayne didn’t place the blame on Gateway itself. Instead, he said the nonprofit’s board inherited “somewhat cloudy documents as to what really should guide their decisions.” He said he wants to clarify what types of stadium projects qualify for Gateway money in the first place.
Take an example from last year, when the Cavaliers planned to add a coating to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse windows to prevent bird strikes. Gateway board member Debbie Berry, a Ronayne appointee, questioned whether the project met the definition of “capital repair.”
She voted against spending taxpayer money on the project, but was outvoted by other board members.
Forging ahead on a new Cuyahoga County jail
Ronayne said he is aiming to complete the new, $750 million Cuyahoga County jail in Garfield Heights by 2028 or 2029.
County Council members criticized the latest designs during a hearing last year. That’s because the county is proposing a four-story building, which is taller than initially planned. The previous county executive, Armond Budish, said in 2022 that he believed transporting detainees by elevator in a vertical building could be dangerous.
But a low, flat building presents different challenges. Ronayne said that county officials heard concerns from sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers about having to walk long hallways every day. The four-story proposal is not “too vertical,” he argued. (The newer tower of the current jail complex is 12 stories.)
Another criticism is that defense attorneys may not get as much face time with clients if they have to drive from downtown offices to a suburban jail. Ronayne replied that one solution is “a lot more video conferencing” between attorneys and clients.
The county executive said he is following modern industry trends in building a jail separate from a courthouse – and in planning to house such services as behavioral healthcare on the jail campus.
Ronayne said he wanted to keep those planned services at the jail site, even if rising construction costs lead to conversations about trimming back.
“It’s our priority to preserve those services,” Ronayne said. “And I just don’t think we should build yesterday’s model. I think we need to build a future-looking model.”
Cuyahoga County gets ready for President Donald Trump
With Sherrod Brown out of the U.S. Senate and President Joe Biden about to leave office, does Democrat-led Cuyahoga County have any friends left in Washington, D.C.?
Ronayne said that he doesn’t have connections with the incoming Trump administration. But he does know Ohio’s members of Congress, and he believes the Republicans and Democrats in the delegation will come through for Cuyahoga County.
He paid a compliment to newly elected Sen. Bernie Moreno, recalling a recent conversation.
“First question I asked Sen.-elect Moreno was, ‘Do you earmark?’” Ronayne said, referring to the practice of setting aside dollars for local projects in federal spending bills. “The answer is yes.”
One question that awaits local officials in the Trump era: how closely to coordinate with the administration’s deportation plans. If county sheriff’s officers pull over someone who is undocumented, do they notify federal immigration authorities?
Ronayne stopped short of saying how exactly sheriff’s deputies might handle those issues. He said that his office, including the Sheriff’s Department, valued the county’s diversity.
“On the matter of enforcing the law, of course, people have to enforce the law,” he said. “So those are two truisms. We value the importance of ethnic diversity. As far as – I don’t want to get in a spat on a horizon that I can’t yet see.”
The county executive said he has kept in touch with local refugee resettlement agencies about the incoming administration’s immigration stance. He pointed out that the county opened a welcome center for immigrants and refugees last year.
“We’re not a culture of profiling,” he said. “We’re a culture of trying to support our ethnic diversity. And I think that’s what we need to reinforce, meaning we’re welcoming to all comers.”
